Deadbeat Illinois: State falling behind on burial expenses, too

LINCOLN — Paying for the burial or cremation of Illinois’ indigent population continues to be a low priority for state officials charged with sorting through billions of dollars in old bills, according to funeral professionals around the state.

Editor's Note: This is the latest installment in the Deadbeat Illinois series, where reporters from GateHouse Illinois newsrooms examine the real-world effects of the state’s failure to pay its bills. Each Monday, we’ll share the stories of those affected. See more on the Deadbeat Illinois Facebook page.

LINCOLN — Paying for the burial or cremation of Illinois’ indigent population continues to be a low priority for state officials charged with sorting through billions of dollars in old bills, according to funeral professionals around the state.

Illinois is running several months behind — sometimes up to a year — in paying funeral directors and cemeteries for expenses they incurred when they agreed to provide burial or cremation services for penniless, indigent and imprisoned residents.

It’s a dilemma for funeral directors around the state — they’re torn between an ethical predisposition that everyone deserves a proper funeral and the fiscal reality that it will take months to be reimbursed by the state for their expenses.

“It’s just like any other operation: You have to be able to count on your accounts receivable,” said Vickie Hand, a cemetery professional in Homewood and a vice president of the Illinois Cemetery and Funeral Home Association. “It’s gotten to the point, unfortunately, that death is not one of the first things that comes to everybody’s mind to be paid for.”

Unpaid bills add up

Peasley Funeral Home, a decade-old business at 401 Delavan St. in Lincoln, is one example. Funeral director and owner Don Peasley in the fall agreed to handle the cremation of an inmate who had been in prison in Lincoln. The Illinois Department of Corrections contacted Peasley looking for help.

Peasley turned in a bill for $1,353 on Sept. 11. It still hasn’t been paid.

The state owes millions of dollars to individual businesses, agencies, schools and others around the state. Comparatively, Peasley’s bill is small. But to an independent business owner trying to make ends meet, it can add up.

He said it usually takes six to 12 months to be paid.

“It affects our cash flow, obviously,” Peasley said, noting that he has five additional bills to turn in for public-aid burials. “It does deter us from doing business with the state. I haven’t (stopped) yet, but it could become a definite possibility. If I don’t get paid on that one from DOC when it hits a year, then I’ll probably decide not to do them anymore.”

‘Will only get worse’

The state’s funeral and burial program, overseen by the Department of Human Services, was appropriated $9.8 million for the current fiscal year. During fiscal year 2012, which ended June 30, lawmakers allocated only $1.9 million to the program, which quickly ran dry. The state provides funeral assistance to between 9,000 and 12,000 people each year. Maximum payments are $1,103 for the funeral and $552 for the burial or cremation.

Page 2 of 2 - “We believe that everyone deserves a decent funeral and burial or cremation,” said Januari Smith, spokeswoman for Human Services. But she added that the backlog is not new and noted that the state’s $8 billion unpaid-bill backlog “will only get worse” without pension reform.

It doesn’t do any good to complain or try to rattle cages at the state, Peasley said.

“We’ve done that years ago, and then we just stopped because it’s like beating a dead horse,” he said. “If they don’t have the money, where are you going to get it from?”

Jayette Bolinski can be reached through The State Journal-Register metro desk at 788-1517.